The letter had come late
by The Doctor - Son of Kronos
Summary: If I had to give this a summary then think of a year at Hogwarts where nothing goes wrong and Voldemort doesn't attack. New guy, OC called Jack. Annabeth instead of Hermione for some reason. Focused on relationships of Harry/Ginny and, although I ship Percabeth, Jack/Annabeth. Hermione is ravenclaw so some Ron/Hermione.
1. Chapter 1

The letter had come late. That's what they had said. Late, five years late. Gran told me all about this place with the ridiculous name. I mean, who calls a school 'Hogwarts'? Wizards, eh? Seems about right.

What, you thought I would be surprised? Not bloody likely with the childhood I'd had. First, Mum and Dad die before I can get to know them. Then, the 'accidents'. It's usual for a child to have a wild imagination but even at sixteen I won't stop.

"It wasn't my fault, miss! I didn't even touch him!"

"But I wasn't anywhere near the baked beans!"

And the like. Gran always believed me, in a patronising way. You know? The sort of way that makes you think "at least the others were honest!".

And then the letter came.

[Insert ridiculous patronising fake letter here]

That's what I thought anyway. I thought Gran had just written some mumbo jumbo thing to make me feel better.

"I understand you want me to feel better but I'm not a little kid anymore!" I shouted after skimming through the contents of the letter.

Perfect timing, a huge knock on the door.

"That'll be him…it must be him…" Gran mumbled gibberish as she made her way to the door.

She opened it up to reveal a huge guy who seemed to have more hair than head. Oh yeah, he might have been the other reason I took to the idea of wizards.

"Where's tha' boy of yers?" he exclaimed fondly.

"Hagrid!" Gran replied.

Okay, either I was dreaming or Gran must be having some sort of mental breakdown. Hagrid?

"Dumbledore sen' me immediately! Realisin' tha' letter had ne'er come to yer, an' all!"

"Gran, what's going on?" I ventured, I admit, slightly intimidated by the giant in the doorway.

"Oh! Where are my manners? Please have some tea and meet Jack!" My grandma bustled past me into the kitchen, choosing to ignore my question. She quickly shuffled back into the hallway and guided the bearded giant to our living room. He proceeded to sit on the biggest armchair he could find, which squealed in protest.

"I musn' stay long, Mrs Pendragon…" Hagrid rumbled.

"Nonsense! I need you to convince Jack here to actually have some confidence in himself!"

Gran looked at me sympathetically, as if I was the one who needed helping.

"Wha'? Don' 'e believe he's a wizard?"

Gran shook her head and chuckled.

"He thinks I'm making it up to make him feel better." She said in a stage whisper.

"Excuse me? I'm right here!" I exclaimed from the doorway.

"Then why don' you sit down, lad?" Hagrid fished a pink frilly umbrella and pointed it at the closest armchair. The armchair suddenly slid across the room and came to a stop next to me.

I simply stared, mouth gaping.

"What the f-"

"Language, Jack!" Gran scolded.

Hagrid made a deep rumbling noise that I realised was laughing.

"Young boy's these days, huh!" He chuckled.

"W-what just happened?"

He laughed even harder.

"Magic, Jack! Yer one of us, a wizard!"

I was lost for words. I had briefly lost all ability to think rationally.

"Umm…"

"Grea' words, Jack, grea' words. We must be off now though…" Hagrid laughed.

"We? Who's we?"

The giant looked at me strangely.

"You an' me o' course! Those supplies aren' gonna buy themselves!"

As he tried to squeeze through the living room doorframe, I turned to Gran.

"What's going on, Gran? Who is this guy?" I asked, desperate for a bit of sanity.

"He's the groundskeeper of Hogwarts School…and an old friend." She said nostalgically.

I looked at her in disbelief, but somehow all the pieces of the puzzle were fitting together. The Fight, the Baked Bean incident, they had been magic. I could do magic! A small laugh escaped my lips as I got up, my feet disobeying my reeling mind. I walked over to Hagrid, who stood just outside the house, and grinned manically.

"Why not?" I smiled and he smiled warmly down to me.

"Tha's the spirit!"

After saying a quick goodbye to Gran, I left for an adventure.

The ride there was much less exciting than I thought it would be. Hagrid owned a beaten down motorbike with a sidecar, which looked like it had been to the moon and back ("You should see it when it flies, a lot more fun then!"). He expertly navigated the crowded streets of London and we had arrived in no time.

"So where do we buy the wands and sh-stuff?" I asked looking around. We had stopped in what seemed to be a very average street in London.

"Though 'ere." Hagrid pointed to a grungy looking pub that everyone with any sense would steer clear of. The sign read 'The Leaky Cauldron', charming name.

Hagrid plodded right through the doors and into the dreary interior filled with…oh. Not the kind of people I was expecting. Instead of drunken thugs, the bar was filled with a bunch of very eccentric looking people.

Hagrid strode through the hordes of people with me close behind. He went through a door and out into the backside of the pub.

"M'kay let me see…"

He brought out his frilly umbrella and tapped a couple of bricks on the wall in front of us. The brick wall unravelled to uncover-

"Diagon Alley. Contains everythin' yer'll ever need as a wizard."

The bank trip had been a rather unpleasant journey but at least I had two sacks full of gold coins, or galleons as Hagrid called them. We went through Diagon Alley, ticking things off my list. I could see tons of schoolchildren doing their pre-school shopping too. Nothing particularly excited me until we got to the wand shop.

Two owl eyes peeking out of the gloom greeted us. The eyes turned out to be attached to a scruffy old man who shook my hand as we entered.

"Ooh a new one! All grown up!" he muttered excitedly.

I looked at Hagrid for reassurance and he gave me a thumbs up. I followed the old man into the shop as he started searching the shelves.

"Aha!" He shouted, startling me, "Dragon heartstring core, and oak, unyielding mhmm yes let's see…"

He handed me a pretty average looking stick and a looked at him blankly.

"Give it a wave then! He's just like the last one you brought, Hagrid!"

I waved it about and a couple of sparks erupted from the end. I almost dropped the wand in surprise.

"Yes! First time! I knew today was a good day!"

We left the rambling man and I looked down at the shopping list.

"That's it?" I asked, an audible note of disappointment in my voice.

"This is only the beginnin' Jack. You haven' even gone to school yet!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: This is my first fanfic and it kind of was a dream that I wanted to write down so sorry if it sounds a bit strange. The only things I own in this are the main character and the plot.**

The day came quicker than I would have expected. It was a boarding school so I wouldn't be able to see Gran until Christmas, so she wouldn't stop showering me with treats and presents. Me, I just couldn't stop smiling. I fell asleep with a grin on my face and I woke up with that same grin.

Gran drove me to King's Cross Station and helped me unload my trunk, chattering all the time. As we walked into the station, she handed me my ticket and I stopped to look at it properly.

"Urr Gran, it says Platform 9-"

"-and three quarters, yes. They can't exactly have random muggles turning up to Hogwarts can they?"

I nodded, still slightly unsure. I had learnt some wizard dialogue from Gran so I wouldn't sound too stupid. Also I had been practising ever since I had got back from Diagon Alley, and, if I may say so myself, I'm not half bad.

We arrived at Platform 9 and 10 and I noticed a couple of strange looking people hanging around. By strange looking people I mean wizards.

They looked like a family, although one of them was significantly different. Basically, the whole family was ginger and the boy who looked around my age had dark hair like mine. He was wearing circular glasses and his hair looked like he'd just rolled out of bed. One of the ginger family was chatting to him and joking around.

My attention was drawn away from them as I saw two perfectly identical boys run straight at the wall separating the two platforms. As they collided with the wall they just disappeared. Nobody seemed to notice anything unusual and carried on chatting.

One by one they ran through the wall until there was no one left.

"Okay you ready?" Gran said encouragingly.

"You don't expect me to run at that wall do you?" I asked incredulously.

"You saw what happened! You go right through onto platform 9 and three quarters." She replied undeterred.

I muttered something about crazy wizards and started off at a jog towards the wall. I closed my eyes before impact but I felt nothing. When I opened my eyes I saw a scarlet steam train and hundreds of bustling kids and parents. I saw Gran emerge behind me and usher me toward the train.

Once I had said my last goodbyes to Gran and the train had left the station, I had trouble finding a seat. Everyone seemed to know each other and had already sat with all their friends.

Eventually, I found a partially empty compartment that contained the two boys I had noticed earlier. With them was a very pretty ginger girl who looked very similar to the ginger boy, a round-faced boy, and a curly- haired blonde.

"Uh, hey. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

They all looked up, dumfounded by this newcomer.

"Who are you?" The curly blonde asked, sceptically.

"Um, I'm Jack." The attention was making me nervous. I was about to say never mind and try to find a new compartment when the pretty ginger girl spoke.

"Sure, sit down."

The round-faced boy inspected me, confused.

"I haven't seen you before…what house are you in?"

"I-er I'm new. I haven't got a house yet." I answered, thankful of Hogwarts: A History for explaining the system.

"New?" The ginger boy asked, "I didn't know you could join in your sixth year."

"Yeah well, neither did I until this guy, Hagrid, showed up and took me to Diagon Alley."

"You know Hagrid?" The boy with glasses asked with interest.

"Uh yeah…"

There was momentary silence before the ginger girl piped up again.

"I'm Ginny, by the way, this is Neville, Ron, Harry and Annabeth."

She pointed them out in turn ending on the curly blonde who looked up to reveal starling grey eyes.

"I'm Jack. Er are you all in the same house?"

The blonde, Annabeth, spoke this time.

"We're all in Gryffindor, the house of the brave." She did a little bow and cracked a small smile.

"I personally think Annabeth should have been put in Ravenclaw. She's too bloody smart for us!" Ron complained.

That got a smile from everyone.

"I hope I get put in Gryffindor then, you guys seem like a cool lot."

I had to separate from the others when we arrived and put with all the eleven year olds chittering with excitement. To be honest, my nerves were sort of acting up and inside I was exactly like them, but I couldn't let anyone know that.

There was a short boat ride up to the castle, which looked breathtaking in the twilight. The first years and I collected in front of the great hall having mixed emotions about the Choosing Ceremony, which was about to commence.

Some kids new immediately which house they would be put in and others were testing each other to see which one they might suit.

Eventually, a stern looking woman who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall led us through the big doors into the hall. Hundreds of eyes turned to look at us and I stood like a giraffe in a group of meerkats. The Professor clacked through the hall with the rest of us at her heels.

At the head of the hall sat a chair and on it was a worn out hat. McGonagall explained that she would read out our names and we would each go up and put on the hat and be sorted. She would read out the names alphabetically but because I wasn't a first year, I was last.

I waited, feeling stupid in my big bulky robes with almost every eye in the room on me. My internal introvert was having a heart attack. One by one they put on the hat and after a few seconds it would shout out whichever house they were in.

Finally, it was my turn. I strode nervously up to the hat and sat down on the chair (which was built for eleven year olds, not me).

_Hmm, interesting…_

_Not a first year I see._

A croaky voice spoke from the recesses of the hat.

_I see courage inside you, and also a thirst for knowledge. Hmmm difficult…_

I silently prayed for Gryffindor, not wanting to be the complete odd one out.

_Yes, yes I understand you want Gryffindor…but will you fit into it?_

_Please!_ I thought desperately.

_Fine, fine I will put you in Gryffindor, but know well that you would fit in to Ravenclaw…_

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat belted out.

A roar of approval erupted from the Gryffindor table as I stepped down and went to sit.

Ginny made space for me between her and Neville. I sat down and turned my attention to Dumbledore, grateful to be out of the limelight. He started one of the shortest and strangest headmaster speeches I had ever heard, and had to mention how I was a latecomer but would be joining them for the rest of my school years. Once that was done, everyone started singing a song that I assumed was the school anthem or something.

The cacophony of sounds from around the hall died down and Dumbledore stood up once more.

"Now let us eat!"

Mountains of food suddenly appeared on the tables and everyone around me started tucking in to roast beef or risotto. Every food you could think of was on the table; Chinese, Indian, Mediterranean. Naturally, I settled for pizza and chicken wings. I also helped myself to some peas in honour of Gran.

Eventually, the original lure of food was overtaken by curiosity, apart from with Ron who hadn't stopped to breathe for five minutes.

"So what happened? Why didn't you come when you were eleven?" An Irish boy asked.

"My gran said that the letter had just come late…I dunno." I replied self-consciously.

Ginny introduced me to the Irish boy, Seamus, Dean and her twin brothers Fred and George.

"How do people tell you two apart? Do you have like a mole or something?" I asked, already unsure which was which.

"Generally you don't!" Ron spoke with a mouthful of chicken. "They're always together so if you need to talk to them you address them as one."

Annabeth smacked him round the head with the newspaper she was holding.

"Shut your mouth until you finished eating, Ron. We don't want to see the mushed up food in your mouth!"

Harry and Ginny laughed at Annabeth's scowl.

"You know it's useless Annabeth, if Mrs Weasley can't change him then we're doomed forever." Harry grinned.

After dinner, I was led to the Gryffindor common room and told the password ('Dunghorn'). The fat lady opened the door to reveal a warm cosy living area with a fireplace and comfy sofas.

My new acquaintances and I lounged in the sofas talking about holiday trips, planned pranks and above all, me.

"Where did you go before Hogwarts?" The group said the name so casually but I always suppressed a laugh when I heard it.

"Just a normal secondary school. Nothing much."

Harry and Annabeth had both grown up in muggle households and didn't really care much about my old school, but the Weasleys were fascinated.

"I bet you'll be amazing at Muggle Studies. Dad would love you!" Fred (or George) said.

"Dad works in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts in the Ministry of Magic. He loves learning about muggle technology." Ginny explained.

I nodded trying to look like I understood, but I had no idea what the Ministry of Magic was.

After much interrogation by the ginger siblings, I mentioned that I was kind of tired and we moved off to bed. The dormitories were lavishly decorated and I found my trunk already beside my bed, which was between the door and Neville's bed.

"You might want some of these." Harry said reaching into his beside drawer. "Ron snores."

"I don't!" His friend protested.

Mumbles from around the room told me otherwise. I accepted the earplugs from Harry when Ron's back was turned.

We all climbed into bed, and before long, I was fast asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

A chorus of grumpy voices shattered my sleep state. I sat up groggily, picking away at the cobwebs of drowsiness pulling me back. Once, I had shaken the last of the mist from my head, it took me a few moments to realise were I was.

"Ron, get up!" I heard Harry's voice to my left.

"Nmmuh…"

"You're gonna miss breakfast." Ron's eyes shot open.

"What time is it?" He asked frantically looking around.

Neville looked at his watch. "About quarter to eight."

"Bloody hell, Harry! Why didn't you wake me sooner!"

The boys laughed as Ron scrabbled around for his school clothes. I casually slipped on my shirt, tie and trousers, and shoved my feet into the heavy black school shoes I bought from Diagon Alley.

We walked down to the common room as a group, Ron tailing behind trying to tie his tie. We met Ginny and Annabeth in the common room, who had obviously been waiting for us boys to emerge.

I noticed how perfect their hair was and how pristine their uniform was. My only thought was that they must have woken up really early to get that all done.

"How long does it take you guys?" Annabeth groaned.

Ron scowled, trying for the bajilionth time to tie his tie.

"At least we don't wake at the crack of dawn to get our make-up perfect."

"Seeing you wearing make-up would make my day!" Ginny giggled.

Ron's scowl deepened and I stepped in before it could get any worse.

"Time for breakfast!" I said loudly.

Breakfast was as delicious as dinner had been and I found myself eating a lot more than normal; stacking my plate high with pancakes and waffles. Ron's mood had lightened as soon as he had food in his stomach and conversation ran smoothly.

We obtained our timetables from Professor McGonagall, whom I found out was the head of Gryffindor house from Harry. As we studied the structure of what was to be our lives for the next year, I was glad to find out that I would be having the same lessons as Harry, Ron and Annabeth. Ginny was in the year below us so had different classes.

"We can show you the ropes in the different subjects, they're not that hard to get the hang of." Annabeth commented.

"Yeah," Ron scoffed "that is if you're Annabeth the Wise, who knows about everything there is to know."

Annabeth glanced disapprovingly at him, probably mentally chastising him for not being reassuring enough.

"I practised a bit before I came, and read some of the books, so I think I know the basics."

"We'll see…" Harry said, not exactly getting my hopes up.

Our first lesson was Defence Against the Dark Arts with a scruffy but kindly looking professor called Professor Lupin. He welcomed us in warmly, giving an extra nod of recognition to Harry.

The room looked bare, apart from a large cupboard that stood at the far end. As soon as everyone was inside, the professor began to speak.

"I have chosen to start this year slightly differently. We are going to start with a practical exercise."

The class began to mutter excitedly. Professor Lupin must have been a pretty popular teacher if he did this on a regular basis.

"Inside the cupboard is what we call a Boggart." Lupin raised his voice to be heard over the class. "A few of you might know what this creature is. Can anyone tell the class?"

Annabeth's hand lazily hung in the air, as if she were used to being the only one to answer. Some other faces looked as if they knew what it was, but were too afraid to answer. That wasn't a good sign.

"Yes, Annabeth?" Lupin said after scouring the class hoping that someone _else _might have an answer for once.

"A Boggart is a creature that changes into your worst fear as soon as you see it. It isn't too harmful but can sometimes be slightly dangerous. No one knows what it actually looks like when it is alone." She counted off the facts on her fingers, frowning when she couldn't think of any more.

I gulped and looked at the cupboard. _My worst fear_. What was my worst fear?

"Very good Annabeth! Ten points to Gryffindor. As Miss Chase told us, the Boggart changes into a person's greatest fear, which gives us one tactical advantage, which is?"

He looked around the room once more, only to be greeted by Annabeth's hand once more.

"Harry?"

Harry looked like a deer caught in headlights. He frantically searched his head for an answer.

"Urm, it won't know what to change into?" He offered.

"Precisely! It is always better to face a Boggart in a group as it has trouble making up it's mind for the first few seconds, which is more than enough time to stop it with one simple spell."

He turned to face us, scanning our faces.

"A Boggart hates laughter, it thrives off fear, but this doesn't mean laughter will completely stop it. Instead, there is a spell that will render it useless. It goes _Ridikkulus_! Say it with me, _Ridikkulus_!" The class chanted. We said it a few more times before the professor turned to the round-faced boy, Neville.

"What do you consider your greatest fear Neville?"

"Urm…well…" He mumbled growing red. "I suppose it would probably be…Snape."

The class burst out laughing, which made the cupboard rattle angrily. Once the laughter died down Lupin spoke again, now with a small smile on his face.

"I believe you live with your grandmother, is that correct?"

"Yeah but I don't want it turning into her either!" Neville replied nervously.

"No, no of course. Can you imagine the kind of clothes she would wear?"

"Yes?"

"I want you to imagine Professor Snape wearing those clothes. Can you do that Neville?"

He let out a nervous laugh and nodded.

"Okay, I'm going to open the door to the cupboard and as soon as Professor Snape appears I want you to imagine him in your grandmothers clothes and shout _Ridikkulus_!"

He nodded again as Lupin opened the door. The Boggart shot out and began to convulse vigorously, changing from one form to another. Eventually it settled on the greasy-haired professor.

"_R-Ridikkulus!_" Neville shouted.

Immediately it spun into the same hook- nosed man, but with the most hideous outfit. On his head was a stuffed vulture hat and he wore a green dress with a big red handbag in his hand.

The class erupted in laughter and Snape started to look like a cornered animal.

"Okay, everyone line up! Each person will get a turn so think about how your worst fear could turn funny!" The professor yelled.

We filed into a semi-straight line eagerly awaiting our turn. Each person's fear was different, some had giant spiders and others had angry parents. All the while I puzzled over what my one would be.

My go came way to soon and I watched as the creature manipulated itself into my fear. A huge crowd of kids appeared, all my age. They all stared at me and one by one began to laugh. Their laughter filled the room, patronising and horrid. I pointed my wand at them, anger and fear swelling up inside me and shouted "_Ridikkulus_!"

The crowd all suddenly became naked. The laughter died in their throats as they looked down at themselves. I had to stifle the laughter that bubbled up inside me.

"Next!" Lupin said.

After everyone had gone, Lupin forced the Boggart back into the cupboard and dismissed us.

"No homework for any of you today, due to persistent excellence during class!"

He congratulated everyone in turn as they left through the door.

_If this is what every class is like then this year's gonna be great! _I thought.

I spoke way too soon.

Despite the lack of DADA homework, I still had tons to do when I got back to the common room. Potions had been by far the worst lesson, Professor Snape living up to his ominous reputation. He expected me to know as much as the other students even though I was new and muggle-born.

As I sifted through my mountain of work, I noticed that Harry and Ron would constantly ask Annabeth for answers, until she was basically dictating their homework for them. The magic didn't seem to change the fact that this was still just a school.

I managed to complete my homework before the others (I only managed to complete it before Annabeth because of her constant interruptions) and I retired off to bed.

**I don't really know if this is any good or not so if you have any constructive criticisms then they would be well appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

Classes ran smoothly, mostly. Apart from the dreaded Potions master, most teachers managed to like me. I say like, most of them were pretty much indifferent to the new arrival and I'm pretty sure the History of Magic teacher (or should I say ghost) didn't realise I existed.

At weekends and in any free time we had, the trio and I hung out with Ginny and her new boyfriend, Dean. I admit I was surprised that she was going out with him; she was way out of his league. It was funny watching Ron fume whenever they kissed, or even got too close.

Generally, I was happy. Apart from a few stares (mostly from girls for some reason) and the occasional giggle, I felt like I fitted in.

After my first week of attending the wizarding school, my head of house, Professor McGonagall, approached me in the corridor.

"How are you settling in Mr Pendragon?" She asked in her tight-lipped voice.

"I-er am settling in quite well I think." I responded.

"Would you mind following me to my office? I have a few things I would like to discuss with you."

Ron gave me a face that said _I'm glad I'm not you! _and Harry patted me on the back. I gulped down the nervous ball that was developing in my throat and followed her.

When we sat in her office, I noticed a dilapidated old broomstick sitting on her desk and my spirits rose. Harry and Ron had told me all about Quidditch and I was eager to learn how to fly.

"I was wondering if you would like to join the first years in their flying lessons for a month or so. You may have to miss some of your existing lessons. For example, this week it would be…" she paused as she consulted some papers on her desk "…Potions."

"Sure!" I said over-enthusiastically.

She raised an eyebrow at me but didn't comment.

"Is there anything else?" I continued sheepishly.

"Ah yes! This will be your broom for the moment unless you wish to continue your flying career and buy a new one."

I accepted the gift and made to leave.

"Oh and Mr Pendagon?"

"Yes?" I replied turning back.

"Your lessons will take place every Wednesday before lunch. I suggest you write that down."

I nodded gratefully and left her office.

I met the trio again in the common room, Annabeth reading and Ron and Harry playing wizard's chess. Ron, as always, was wiping the floor with Harry, but I'm not sure Harry really cared.

They looked up as I entered and Ron gasped.

"Your alive! What did McGonagall want-" He stopped as he noticed the broom in my hand. "Why've you got that?"

"God, Ron! Sometimes I can't believe how slow you are! He's obviously got flying lessons with the first years." Annabeth spoke from her little reading cove.

Ron shrugged off the criticism and came to inspect my new broom.

"Aw it's a shame she didn't go all out like with Harry," He said, gesturing at his friend. " When he got on the team she gave him a Nimbus 2000!"

I wasn't sure how good that was but it sounded impressive. I raised my eyebrows approvingly at Harry who blushed.

"Maybe if I'm good enough to get on the team she'll get me a good one." I said, hopefully. Obviously I knew she wouldn't. Harry had told me what happened to his parents and I'm sure McGonagall didn't give expensive brooms to everyone who made the team.

"Maybe, but don't get your hopes up." Ron said sceptically. "No offence, but you have the experience of a first year and the only first year ever to make the team was Harry, who's an amazing seeker!"

Harry blushed ever redder but said nothing.

"Don't be so hard on him, Ron!" Annabeth chastised from her corner. "He's got as much chance as Harry did!"

"Yeah, if you do want to try, tryouts are next Thursday." Harry finally spoke, relieved to have the spotlight off him.

I nodded.

"Maybe…"

On the morning of my first flying lesson, butterflies were trying desperately to break free of my stomach. I shot out of bed and dressed in a flash, watching my friends groggily roll out of bed.

I had to go through hours of painstaking lessons before I finally split up with my friends and darted out onto the grounds. Unsurprisingly, I was one of the first there and I had to wait almost ten minutes for the professor to arrive, during which I would excitedly jump from one foot to the other like a small child.

"Hello, I am Madam Hooch, your flying instructor for these lessons. Would everyone please stand by one of the brooms laid out on the floor!"

I joined the excited mass of children and lay my broom on the floor.

"Now, everyone put your hand above your broom and shout, up!"

I heard a chorus of ups before I turned my attention to my broom.

"Up!" I commanded and the broom shot into my hand.

"Well done, Mr…"

"Pendragon." I replied proudly.

It took a while for the other children's brooms to enter their hands and all the while I had a stupid grin on my face.

"Okay! Can everyone now mount his or her brooms, making sure to hold on tight so you don't slip off…"

A dirty thought went through my mind but I pushed it away, concentrating on her words.

"Kick off and hover for a few seconds before returning back to the ground. Do not start flying off! I don't want to have another incident with broken limbs!"

I kicked off and rose slowly into the air, the broom obeying my every command. I sat there for a few moments, observing the first years try and fail to rise into the air, before finally lowering myself to the ground. It felt so easy, so natural, that I couldn't understand why the others found it so hard.

"Once again, well done Mr Pendragon! Five points to Gryffindor. Are you sure you haven't flown before?"

I shook my head firmly.

"Everyone observe Mr Pendragon as he demonstrates how it is done!" Madam Hooch shouted to the class.

I repeated the action, conscious of the many pairs of eyes on me.

"Try again, class!"

They all started jumping up and down again. Some managed to control their brooms and copied my example but the majority were hopeless.

"For those who have managed to do that, you may now try flying around the grounds. No higher than five metres!" The instructor ordered.

I kicked off again, this time swooping forward, the wind in my hair. I flew about, willing my broom to go faster and faster. Unfortunately, the broom started shuddering when I got too fast so I settled at an average pace.

Two other boys and a girl were flying with me, and one of the boys seemed to fly his lazily, as if he did it everyday. I decided to spice things up a bit.

I accelerated into a space and did a small loop the loop, swerving back to see the look on his face. Madam Hooch was too preoccupied with the others to notice. The boy's face hardened into a challenging smile. I new that this was on.

He shot toward me, doing two corkscrews in opposite directions. When he righted, he had a triumphant grin. I wrapped my legs firmly around the broom and tipped upside down. I shot toward the class, blood rushing to my head, and ended it with a 540° corkscrew.

His faced returned to a determined frown as he tried spinning into a loop the loop. Unfortunately, Madam Hooch took that moment to look up.

"Walker! What are you doing? Come down here this instant!" She bellowed.

Walker jerked, startled by her voice and managed to release his grip on the broom and start falling backwards.

My instincts kicked in and I shot toward the falling boy, trying to avoid his flailing arms. I got a grip round his chest and yanked him upwards, just in time. I slowly descended to the floor, still holding the stricken boy.

"Well done, Pendragon! Twenty points to Gryffindor. Walker! Come here this instant!" the professor shouted from the excited gaggle of first years who had totally forgotten about the brooms by their ankles.

I gave him a look that said _If you tell I will whoop your butt before you can say Quidditch! _and he gave a huff but nodded.

The trio were doing homework in the library when I found them. The librarian, Madam Pince, gave me a death stare as soon as I walked in. Quickly I made my way over to them, barely containing my excitement.

Harry looked up as I approached and grinned.

"How was it?" He whispered.

"Great! Madam Hooch gave me 25 points during the lesson." I replied buzzing "Mind you, I'm not sure I deserved twenty of them but still!"

"You gonna try out?" Ron asked, joining in the conversation.

There was no doubt about it, I wanted to try out so badly, to see how good I was. But then I thought of my broom. My face fell.

"I'm not gonna be much good with this broom…"

"If you have any galleons with you, we could ask McGonagall for permission to go and buy one at Hogsmeade." Harry offered.

I nodded slowly.

"Do you think she'll let us?"

Harry looked at Ron doubtfully, but then Annabeth stood in.

"If she get's Harry the best broom on the market for getting on the team I'm sure she'll give you permission." She spoke reassuringly, and I found myself believing her.

"Yeah! For all she knows I might be the next Harry!" I decided.

A very loud shushing sound erupted from Madam Pince's desk and Annabeth sighed dramatically.

"How ironic…"

We decided to confront McGonagall after our next Transfiguration lesson. Unfortunately, this left me distracted the whole lesson as I dreamt which model I would get and failed to turn my goblet into a mouse.

Annabeth, however, found no difficulty whatsoever and had at least five mice and seven cauldrons on her desk (we were supposed to turn the mice into cauldrons after the first transformation). Luckily I could base my ineptitude on lack of wizarding experience, and get away with it.

Once the lesson was over, we hurriedly intercepted the professor as she tried to leave the room.

"Urm do you mind if we ask you something professor?" I asked timidly.

"Of course Mr Pendragon but make it quick." She replied curtly.

Annabeth stepped in to ask.

"Jack here is excelling in his flying lessons, as you may have noticed by the huge lift in the amount of points to Gryffindor, and would like to have an expedition to Hogsmeade to buy a new broom for Quidditch tryouts."

McGonagall looked taken aback, not realising her earlier instruction would need to be carried out.

"The next scheduled trip to Hogsmeade is in a weeks time Miss Chase, as I'm sure you know."

"But Quidditch tryouts are on the day before and with this broom I will never get in!" I complained. I could hear how whiny my voice sounded but I was desperate.

McGonagall looked at all of us sternly. Finally she rested her eyes on me.

"Fine, Mr Pendragon. I trust you four not to cause any trouble."

A huge grin spread across my face and I could see it on the other's as well.

"Now run along! Or you'll be late for your next class!"

We did as we were told, our spirits high.


	5. Chapter 5

We were scheduled to go to the little town early the next day and we all practically sprang out of bed. Well, I say we all, but Ron was only slightly more active than usual.

It was quite chilly outside, as it grew closer to October, so I grabbed a hoodie and an extra fleece just in case. We met Annabeth in the common room and quickly ran down to the Great Hall to grab some breakfast.

Once we had some food in our bellies and galleons in our pockets, we headed off.

The walk wasn't very long, maybe ten minutes, but the breeze seemed to whip right through our coats and we couldn't wait until we reached the shops.

Just as it had started to rain, we entered the shop, immediately comforted by the wall of warmth that appeared inside. My eyes widened as I took in the sight of gleaming wood and neatly trimmed twigs. Harry, Ron and I were all like kids in a sweetshop, and Annabeth just stood by, reading a book she had brought with her.

"How much did you bring?" Ron asked excitedly.

I looked into the leather pouch I had brought and poured the coins onto a table.

I counted them in twos and threes until finally-

"About 150 galleons I think…"

Ron's eyes widened and he looked over at Harry who was inspecting different types of polish.

"How rich are you?" He asked incredulously.

I blushed and looked down at the money.

"I didn't know how much I needed…"

"Blimey, Jack! With that amount you could get a brand new Firebolt!"

Harry looked up at the name of his broom.

"Yeah but that's Harry's broom, I wouldn't want to get exactly the same one." I replied uncomfortably.

"Would you guys hurry up?" Annabeth called from the front of the shop. "I want to go to the bookstore after this!"

Ron sighed and rolled his eyes.

"That girl…" he muttered vaguely.

All of a sudden, a bald potbellied man stepped out from behind the till.

"If I could tempt my young customers with some of our newest models?"

He said, startling us.

"Er sure. What kind of new models?" I asked.

He paused, sizing me up.

"Depends on the kind of broom you're looking for…"

"Something a bit like a Firebolt…but not a Firebolt." I replied uncertainly.

"Hmm…"

He started off back to the till and walked through a door behind it. I could hear some cluttering and muttering and a couple of crashes before the man re-emerged holding an incredibly stylish broomstick.

Its branches were perfectly trimmed and the wood shone. Carefully engraved on the end was its name in cursive gold letters. _Dartfin_. Even the name was cool and stylish. Annabeth had even lowered her book to see.

"How much?" I asked excitedly.

He sucked air between his teeth and shook his head.

"This ones very pricey. It's had even better reviews than the Firebolt."

"How much?" I repeated in a steely voice.

"146 galleons."

"Bloody hell!" I heard Ron mutter.

Excitement and anticipation bubbled up inside me, ready to burst.

"I'll take it!" I scooped up my galleons and started counting them onto the counter. The man just stood there, surprised that these scruffy school kids could afford his best broom.

I quickly separated six galleons from the pile and pushed the rest towards him. He expertly sifted through them and gave me an approving glance.

"It's yours, mate!"

Annabeth had dragged us to the bookstore after my purchase, and all I could think about was trying out my new broom. She spent a painstaking fifteen minutes picking out books and another five actually purchasing them before we were released.

The boys and I shot up to the grounds and into the Quidditch pitch eager to see the broom in action.

"I dibs second go!" Harry yelled after me.

"Oi! That's not fair! You already have a good broom!" Ron fumed.

"And I let you go on it!" Harry argued back.

As soon as we reached the pitch I slipped it between my legs and kicked off, soaring into the air. Its speed and agility left me breathless. I shot off towards the hoops, slaloming through them before doing a quick loop the loop and shooting back down to the ground.

"This is incredible!" I grinned manically.

Harry and Ron were practically salivating all over it.

"What position are you gonna try for?" Harry asked.

"I think I might like to be a Chaser."

"You have to have a good throwing arm for that." Ron commented.

I rolled my shoulder a couple of times.

"Who says I haven't?"


	6. Chapter 6

Tryouts were all I could think of for the next few days. You would have thought I would be trying to catch up with the other students and doing extra work, but I couldn't care less about work. Unfortunately, this didn't bode well with Professor Snape during Potions.

"Is my lesson boring you, Mr Pendragon?" He spoke in his low greasy voice.

I snapped out of my daydream, a cold wash of realisation pouring over me.

"Um no sir." I managed under his deadly gaze. "I-er haven't been able to sleep well recently."

The lie slipped easily off my tongue after years of excuses for late homework. Snape looked unimpressed.

"Well maybe you would like to use some of the sleeping draught you have been concocting." He smiled cruelly and bent down to smell my draught.

His nose crinkled and his face turned into one of disgust.

"Or maybe not…"

I heard some snickers coming from the group of Slytherins on the other side of the room and felt my face heat up. I stared down at my cauldron, trying hard not to talk back, that would only make things worse.

Suddenly, one of the Slytherin's, a boy called Malfoy, cauldron exploded. Scalding liquid drenched him and the unfortunate people beside him. My head shot up as Malfoy's wails pierced the cellar that the lesson was being held in. Snape wheeled round and strode silently over to Malfoy and helped him up.

"Crabbe, Goyle can you escort Malfoy and yourselves to Madam Pomfrey to treat those burns."

They nodded and hurried off, dragging the screaming Malfoy with them. As soon as they had left, Snape turned back to the class.

"Either Mr Malfoy had done something exceptionally wrong with his potion, or someone felt the need to explode his cauldron." He paused looking suspiciously around the room. "Does anyone want to own up or do I have to take 50 points from Gryffindor?"

I could barely contain my rage.

"How do you know it wasn't a Slytherin?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Sorry, Mr Pendragon? Was that you owning up?" he asked coldly.

"You were watching me the whole time,_ sir_. How could I perform magic without looking and without a wand?"

He glared at me distastefully. After a few seconds he strode back to his desk and resumed the lesson, his cape swishing behind him.

I went back to stirring my potion but I couldn't take my mind off it. I _had _been picturing Malfoy's cauldron exploding in his face while he had been sniggering. This seemed suspiciously similar to the Baked Bean incident.

The day arrived quickly, quicker than I thought it would. Lessons shot by and before I knew it, I was heading off to the Quidditch pitch, broom in hand. When we had all congregated, many people shooting envious looks my way, Harry spoke.

"We'll have a game or two, splitting you off into teams. I will rate your ability on how you play during these games and I will take into account the ability of your opposition. Can you all now split into groups of your position."

I made my way over to the other Chasers and looked at whom I'd be up against. Most of them were younger than me, but there was one quite large seventh year that looked quite scary. I had no idea how good they'd be in the air though.

Harry waded through us, splitting us into two teams. I was on the same team as Ron, who was trying out to be a Keeper.

"Who are you up against?" I asked my nervous looking friend.

"Cormac McClaggen. That guy over there." He pointed to confident looking boy with gelled back hair.

I had no idea how good he or Ron was but I gave the redhead a reassuring pat on the back.

"You're gonna beat that poser, trust me."

He gave me a weak smile and rushed over to get his broom.

"Formations!" Harry yelled and we all rose into the air in a set formation.

I noticed with disdain that the large seventh year was on the other team. Harry released the Bludgers and the Snitch before blowing on his whistle and chucking the Quaffle into the air.

I soared after it, grabbing the ball seconds before the opposition Chaser. Swerving round the different players, I made my way towards the goals, Quaffle in hand. I almost forgot about the Bludgers until one almost took off my head. I ducked hastily and carried on.

Soon I could see the stupid grin on McClaggen's face. I feinted to the right but quickly swerved to the left, lobbing the Quaffle as hard as I could toward the hoop. McClaggen fell for it and was metres away when the ball hit home. The grin was wiped off his face.

I punched the air as I heard the ding on the point scorer. But the game wasn't over yet. A surprisingly agile third year swiped the Quaffle from the air and began shooting toward Ron.

"Oh no you don't!" I mumbled under my breath as I shot after her.

My superior broom reached her before she reached the goal and I quickly barged into her. She stumbled (if you can stumble in the air) and momentarily lost her grip on the Quaffle. I swiped it from her grasp and started flying back toward the opposition hoops.

I found my way blocked by the seventh year, who looked rather funny on a broom; I found it hard to believe that the broom could hold him. I shot upwards to avoid him hoping that he wouldn't be fast enough to catch up.

Unfortunately, he was right behind me.

"Time for plan B then…"

Just as stealthily, I dived downwards shooting off underneath his hulking frame. I flew up to McClaggen again, his face now a determined one. I pretended to throw the ball down to the left hoop and as he flew down, I hooked my hand round and scored through the middle.

"Schoolboy trick!" I yelled.

Things didn't really change from there. Every time the opposition caught hold of the Quaffle, Ginny's boyfriend, Dean, or I would get it off them. Sometimes, I let them through, allowing Ron to show off.

The nimble third year managed to score a goal by doing a feint similar to mine, but at that point we were already sixty points ahead. Basically, the game was going good for us.

I saw the Snitch a few times and tried to catch our seeker's eye, but he was hopeless. I would soon stop when I realised the opposition's seeker was looking my way.

Thirty-five minutes in we were 120 points ahead. Unless the opposition seeker caught the Snitch soon, we were going to win. I casually slogged the Quaffle through the goal again, scoring another ten points. McClaggen was really desperate now; he wasn't going to get in at this rate.

I heard a cheer erupt from behind me, but no whistle. The seekers were after the Snitch. Desperately I grabbed the Quaffle right out of the third year's hands and threw it through the hoop again. Only two more goals and we would win no matter what.

This time the seventh year caught the descending Quaffle, confidence seeping back to him. I tried barging it out of his hand but he was stronger than the third year and wouldn't budge. I suddenly had an idea.

I manoeuvred myself so I was flying above him, and kicked sharply with my heel down on the ball. It slipped out of his grip and he bellowed in anger as I slipped under him and caught it, shooting back to the hoops.

The pressure was on now. If they were any good, the one of the seekers would catch it any minute. I prayed that it would be ours but my heart wasn't in it, he really was hopeless.

I threw the Quaffle toward the hoops, but this time, McClaggen was there. He caught the ball and threw it to one of his teammates, flashing me a triumphant smile. I growled and flew after the player.

A hard blow to the head knocked me off my course. I went spiralling out of control as I remembered about the Bludgers. My head was throbbing and my eyes wouldn't focus, but I didn't lose consciousness. I shook my reeling head and righted myself. Determined to win. Just then I heard the dreaded sound of the whistle. The game was over.

I cursed in frustration and made my way to the ground, heart sinking. _At least I might make it into the team, _I thought, but it didn't remove the sour taste of defeat from my mouth.

I was met on the ground by a cheer, and I looked up to see my team's seeker holding a golden ball. The Snitch! Happiness swelled through me as I joined the rest of the team in giving him a pat on the back.

I saw Ron talking to Harry and Ginny and I made my way over to them grinning stupidly. Ron turned as I approached and gave a cheer.

"Bloody hell you were amazing Jack!" He shouted over the sound of the others.

"I only saw the end of the match, but that was very impressive!" Ginny confirmed, also raising her voice. "Are you sure your head's okay, though?"

I raised my hand to the injury having completely forgotten about it. My hand came back red and I grinned sheepishly at the others.

"I should probably see Madam Pomfrey…"

"Ya think?" Ron laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

News of the trials had spread fast, and that had consequently brought lots of news of me. Even more people stared at me through the hallways (still mostly girls for some reason). I had become something of a small legend, a bit like Harry. One Ravenclaw girl, I think her name was Cho, actually blushed when I asked her if she had seen the trio anywhere. I was almost famous, and I didn't like it.

Apart from that, life resumed as usual. I struggled along with Harry and Ron while Annabeth aced every homework, and Ron and I eagerly awaited Harry's judgement.

One night, Harry and Ron had gone to bed after finishing their homework, but I was struggling with my History of Magic essay and Annabeth had come and helped. She was basically listing different points I could include and I would scribble down some vague thing about how they were significant.

Suddenly, I laughed. I just started laughing uncontrollably as Annabeth stared at me, dumbfounded.

"What?" She asked after a few seconds.

I realised how weird I must have looked as I saw Annabeth's face.

"No it's just that, for some reason, I was thinking about the day before tryouts, y'know, the Malfoy incident? And I just remember seeing his face when it poured all over him…and it's just…" I started laughing again, tears coming to my eyes.

Annabeth tried to remember and then broke out laughing too.

"It was pretty hilarious!" She said between laughs.

"His…eyes were all wide and like…" I made a strange face that probably looked nothing like Malfoy, but we both cracked up anyway.

I looked up at Annabeth's face and my laughter died down. She looked beautiful. Her curly blonde hair framed her face but left a gap to see her features. Her eyes were crinkled up but you could still glimpse the grey orbs that shone with tears of laughter. Her teeth sat perfectly straight in her smile and the little scar that sat just below her lip seemed to disappear.

She stopped laughing when she noticed my silence.

"What's wrong?" She looked concerned.

My face flushed and I quickly looked away.

"Ur nothing…"

She didn't seem convinced.

"Come on, _sire_!" Annabeth was convinced that I was the descendant of King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot, and wouldn't stop calling me 'my liege' or 'sire'.

I looked up at her again and said in a small voice, "You look really pretty when you smile."

Her face turned shocked and flushed red. She looked at a loss for words.

"Well er thank you, I guess." She replied, still bright red.

I glanced awkwardly at the clock and noticed that it was almost eleven.

"We should er probably go to bed now. It's kinda late…"

I could tell that my face was also flushed crimson. She nodded and strode off to her dormitory, leaving me alone with my thoughts. As soon as she had left the room, I slammed my head on the table.

"Why…?" I groaned.

In the morning Annabeth avoided my gaze and all through breakfast we didn't talk. Ron was munching on some cereal and talking with his mouth full about his run in with some Ravenclaw girl, I think her name was Hermione or something. Annabeth didn't even comment.

Harry seemed to notice our discomfort but also didn't seem to want to comment, and listened half-heartedly to Ron rant about the bushy-haired brunette.

Something occurred to me and I turned to Harry, interrupting Ron mid-sentence.

"Wait, aren't you announcing who got on the team today?"

Harry grimaced and nodded.

"Yep. I'm gonna get quite a few stink bombs in my bag today."

"So? Who got in?" Ron asked eagerly, forgetting about his story.

"Well, I decided you could join Ginny as a Chaser," he gestured to me "and McClaggen let in so many goals so you're definitely the best bet in keeper terms…"

Ron looked incredibly pleased with himself. I felt renewed excitement rush into me. I was on the team. I was chosen to be on the team! I could barely contain my eagerness.

"When's the first practice session?"

Harry furrowed his brow.

"I'm pretty sure I booked it for next Saturday but I'll have to check."

We resumed eating in silence, too involved in our own affairs to speak. I had almost finished my pancakes and Ron his cereal when Harry broke the silence.

"Have you seen Ginny recently?"

Ron looked up at the mention of his sister and Annabeth spoke for the first time since we had sat down.

"Her and Dean have been fighting, she mentioned that they might break up."

Ron's ears went bright red.

"That slick git! I'm gonna murder him!" He growled, trying to stay relatively quiet.

"Calm down, Ron!" Harry said, and I almost thought he sounded slightly happy. "Things like this happen all the time, it's kind of good to have gone through it, y'know, learn from your mistakes."

We all stared at him.

"Since when have you been the inspirational kind of guy?" Ron was incredulous.

Harry pretended to look offended but it was obvious that he was liking the compliment.

Our first Quidditch training session went surprisingly well. A lot of the team were quite new as some of the old players left last year, so I didn't feel too left out.

We went through some drills, flying practice, and even a couple of games before calling it a day. Harry spoke to the team as we assembled at the end of the session.

"Now that I've had a proper look at everyone's techniques and strengths, I'm gonna get some tactics set up for next week. We might need slightly more practice than the other houses as most of you are new to the team, but I've seen how good you guys are out there. Don't worry, we'll win the cup."

Ron, Harry and I walked back to the dormitories to get changed.

"Blimey Harry! Wood really rubbed off on you didn't he?"

Harry grinned and shook his head.

"I don't think I'm quite up to his levels of intensity yet Ron."

We quickly changed out of our kit and found Annabeth talking to Ginny in the common room. They were deep in conversation, but whatever Ginny was saying, Annabeth didn't like it much, although she was trying hard to cover it up. They both looked up as we approached and Ginny blushed.

"I was asking Ginny how good you were as a captain. Seems you've made quite the impression on some of the new players." Annabeth said.

Ginny shot her an expression that I couldn't quite figure out. Harry was beaming.

We all really wanted to chat and hang out but our piles of homework weren't going anywhere, and none of us wanted detention from Snape.


End file.
